Rubio says Trump administration did not help Bolsonaro flee Brazil to US

Trump says defeated presidential candidate, who faces investigation in Brazil, can stay in the US ‘as long as he wants’.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the US government had no role in Flavio Bolsonaro's flight from Brazil to the US [Mike Stewart/AP]

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says President Donald Trump’s administration did not help Brazil’s defeated presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro flee the country for the United States after losing a run-off to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro arrived in Miami , Florida, on Wednesday, a day after the US Department of State said Bolsonaro and his family would be granted US visas after his October 25 election loss , which bucked a trend of conservative electoral wins in Latin America.

list 1 of 3 What’s next for Brazil’s Flavio Bolsonaro after election defeat?

list 2 of 3 Trump says won’t ‘take sides’ in Brazil election, but calls it a ‘disgrace’

list 3 of 3 Brazil summons Argentinian diplomat over Bolsonaro’s flight to US

Bolsonaro is under investigation in Brazil for alleged corruption, money laundering and tax evasion, and before leaving, he had been ordered to surrender his passport because police deemed him a flight risk.

“We didn’t facilitate anything,” Rubio told reporters on Saturday in Atlanta, Georgia, where diplomats from the Group of 20 largest world economies were gathered.

“We had word that he had arrived in the United States. He had previously held a visa, and the president made a decision to allow him to enter the country,” Rubio said.

He added that the US government was not “involved directly in any of the moves that were made”.

Rubio also said he had seen Brazil’s foreign minister, Mauro Vieira, in Atlanta on Friday and Saturday and he expected to see Brazilian officials again in November in France during a foreign ministers meeting.

Separately, Trump, who had previously called Brazil’s election “rigged” , voiced sympathy for Bolsonaro and said he could stay in the US indefinitely.

“I think he got treated very shabbily, very shabbily, so he can stay here as long as he wants,” the president told reporters at his Florida residence on Saturday.

The Reuters news agency reported that Bolsonaro was admitted to the US under humanitarian parole, a status that typically lasts for one year.

Trump’s comments suggested relations between the Western Hemisphere’s two largest democracies may remain strained for some time.

After Bolsonaro’s run-off loss, he fled Brazil to the US via Argentina and Ecuador on a journey that some US media outlets reported was partly arranged with the help of Jason Miller, a White House official.

Bolsonaro has refused to concede the Brazilian election and called the results fraudulent without providing evidence.

Since arriving in the US, he has claimed to be the true “leader” of Brazil and said he left the country because he was a victim of “persecution”.

特朗普表示，这位在巴西面临调查的落选总统候选人可以“想待多久就待多久”地留在美国。

美国国务卿马可·卢比奥表示，美国政府与弗拉维奥·博索纳罗从巴西逃往美国一事无关。[迈克·斯图尔特/美联社]

美国国务卿马可·卢比奥表示，唐纳德·特朗普总统的政府没有帮助巴西总统候选人弗拉维奥·博尔索纳罗在与路易斯·伊纳西奥·卢拉·达席尔瓦总统的决选中落败后逃往美国。

博索纳罗于周三抵达佛罗里达州迈阿密。此前一天，美国国务院表示，博索纳罗及其家人将在10月25日大选失利后获得美国签证。博索纳罗的败选打破了拉丁美洲保守派选举获胜的趋势。

列表 1/3：巴西总统弗拉维奥·博索纳罗在选举失败后下一步会做什么？

列表 2/3：特朗普称不会在巴西大选中“选边站队”，但称其为“耻辱”

巴西召见阿根廷外交官，就博索纳罗逃往美国一事进行磋商（共3条，此为第3条）

博索纳罗因涉嫌腐败、洗钱和逃税在巴西接受调查，在离开巴西之前，他被勒令交出护照，因为警方认为他有潜逃风险。

“我们没有提供任何便利，”鲁比奥周六在佐治亚州亚特兰大告诉记者，当时二十国集团（G20）的世界最大经济体的外交官们正在那里聚会。

“我们得到消息说他已经抵达美国。他之前持有签证，总统决定允许他入境，”鲁比奥说。

他还补充说，美国政府“没有直接参与任何行动”。

鲁比奥还表示，他周五和周六在亚特兰大见到了巴西外交部长毛罗·维埃拉，并预计在11月于法国举行的外长会议上再次见到巴西官员。

此外，此前曾称巴西选举“被操纵”的特朗普对博索纳罗表示同情，并称他可以无限期地留在美国。

“我认为他受到了非常糟糕的待遇，非常糟糕的待遇，所以他想在这里待多久就待多久，”总统周六在佛罗里达州的住所告诉记者。

路透社报道称，博索纳罗以人道主义假释身份进入美国，这种身份通常持续一年。

特朗普的言论表明，西半球两个最大民主国家之间的关系可能会在一段时间内保持紧张状态。

博索纳罗在第二轮选举中落败后，他经阿根廷和厄瓜多尔逃离巴西前往美国。一些美国媒体报道称，他的这次逃亡行程部分是在白宫官员杰森·米勒的帮助下安排的。

博索纳罗拒绝承认巴西大选结果，并称选举结果存在舞弊，但并未提供任何证据。

自抵达美国以来，他一直声称自己是巴西真正的“领导人”，并表示他离开巴西是因为他是“迫害”的受害者。